Dear Editor,
When the criminal charge against the two police officers who were involved in the teen-torture case was dismissed, I submitted that it was then too late to institute disciplinary proceedings against them at the departmental level.
In response to my submission, many bloggers disagreed with me, with one of them even concluding that I “lack the expertise in evaluation, in administrative law, criminal law and criminal procedures.” I am unable to substantively address such a misconception through this medium, but would only say that my CV and track record speak for themselves.
Having said that, I am happy to note that a former Chancellor of the Judiciary who is properly grounded in law and who is the current chairman of the Police Complaints Authority has also concluded that it would be unfair to proceed departmentally against the ranks at this stage.
I wish to point out that the thrust of my letter was not to address the innocence or guilt of the ranks, but to focus on the procedural blunders, deliberate or otherwise, on the part of the police administration.
In my letter I cited the case of another policeman, who it was reported, was charged departmentally, dismissed from the Force and then charged criminally, all in a jiffy. I did ask why the same approach was not applied in the case of the tortured-teen ranks. I guess that an answer would not be forthcoming any time soon, but would reiterate that in matters of this nature, disciplinary action can be instituted at both levels at the same time.
Indeed, that was done in the case of the female Lance Corporal who was accused of assisting one of the suspects in the Ministry of Health fire to escape from lawful custody.
In view of the fact that it is reported in the SN of February 2 that a detective corporal is now charged with the criminal offence of rape some two months after the allegation was first made and is yet to be disciplined at the departmental level, one wonders whether or not the decision to proceed at the criminal level only is not deliberate. It must be emphasized once a delinquent rank is charged both departmentally and criminally at the same time the chances of conviction at one or both levels are much greater than if charged at the criminal level alone. In my opinion it is morally and procedurally wrong to allow a criminal proceeding to conclude and then proceed to take disciplinary action at the departmental level.
The aforementioned Chancellor of the Judiciary directed our attention to the doctrine of double jeopardy, which says that it is not fair to repeatedly charge a person for the same offence. A case in point is Arnold Rampersaud, who was tried three consecutive times for the same murder and was eventually acquitted.
I may not be competent to evaluate administrative law, criminal law and criminal procedures, but according to my limited reading, whenever the administration of justice is in our favour, we say that the law is wise, but when it is against us, we say that the law is an ass. Undoubtedly, we judge the law on the basis of our emotions rather than on the basis of our intellect.
Yours faithfully,
Francis Carryl
